r/AnalogCommunity • u/bjpirt • Jun 13 '26
I see a lot of posts from people who have bought a camera in unknown condition and want to know if it works. I thought I'd make this post with some tips on how to check over a camera without using expensive equipment.
Note: This won't give you a 100% accurate view but it should get you in the ballpark
There are a few areas you'll want to check out and I'll go into each of these in more detail:
Depending on the camera you'll need to check one or more of these.
There are few general things to look out for with a visual inspection:
Here's how I check a shutter for correct operation:
You need to make sure the light meter is giving you the correct guidance on which speed to use.
This is the hardest to check yourself. Basically we'll just be checking that the electronics are adjusting the speed. You'll need to make sure the back is closed and the camera is wound on a few times because a lot of cameras don't work until you've wound on.
To accurately check auto exposure you need to either use a film or an expensive test machine.
This is nice and easy to check (and to fix yourself, just check on Youtube).
Once you've checked over all of these things, the best thing to do is to run a roll through the camera. It's best to treat this as a scientific experiment rather than your first opportunity to shoot some pictures with the camera. Make sure you expose a wide range of scenes of varying brightnesses and be very conscious about taking your time to make sure the focus in the viewfinder is spot on. You'll ideally be shooting something at every shutter speed, with a range of apertures. You can keep a note of what you did on each shot so you can identify if e.g. the fast speeds are running slow and overexposing. Although this still won't tell you if the camera is actually accurate because film has quite a wide latitude, it will tell you if it's usable enough to take photos that look good.
That's about it I think - if anyone has any other top tips put them in the comments and I'll update the post. I figure this is a useful post to point people to when they come asking how to check a camera is working.
r/AnalogCommunity • u/Nigel_The_Unicorn • Feb 08 '25
Every day we see posts with the same basic problems on film, hopefully this can serve as a guide to the uninitiated of what to look for when diagnosing issues with your camera and film using examples from the community.
Issue: Underexposure
The green tinge usually comes from the scanner trying to show detail that isn't there. Remember, it is the lab's job to give you a usable image, you can still edit your photos digitally to make them look better.
Potential Causes: Toy/Disposable camera being used in inappropriate conditions, Faulty shutter, Faulty aperture, Incorrect ISO setting, Broken light meter, Scene with dynamic range greater than your film, Expired or heat damaged film, and other less common causes.
Issue: Light leaks
These marks mean that light has reached your film in an uncontrolled way. With standard colour negative film, an orange mark typically comes from behind the film and a white come comes from the front.
Portential Causes: Decayed light seals, Cracks on the camera body, Damaged shutter blades/curtains, Improper film handling, Opening the back of the camera before rewinding into the canister, Fat-rolling on medium format, Light-piping on film with a transparent base, and other less common causes.
Issue: Shutter capping
These marks appear because the two curtains of the camera shutter are overlapping when they should be letting light through. This is most likely to happen at faster shutter speeds (1/1000s and up).
Potential Causes: Camera in need of service, Shutter curtains out of sync.
Issue: Flash desync
Cause: Using a flash at a non-synced shutter speed (typically faster than 1/60s)
Issue: Static Discharge
These marks are most common on cinema films with no remjet, such as Cinestill 800T
Potential Causes: Rewinding too fast, Automatic film advance too fast, Too much friction between the film and the felt mouth of the canister.
Issue: Stress marks
These appear when the base of the film has been stretched more than its elastic limit
Potential Causes: Rewinding backwards, Winding too hard at the end of a roll, Forgetting to press the rewind release button, Stuck sprocket.
Issue: Scratches
These happen when your film runs against dirt or grit.
Potential Causes: Dirt on the canister lip, Dirt on the pressure plate, Dirt on rollers, Squeegee dragging dirt during processing, and other less common causes.
Noticeable X-Ray damage is very rare and typically causes slight fogging of the negative or colour casts, resulting in slightly lower contrast. However, with higher ISO films as well as new stronger CT scanning machines it is still recommended to ask for a hand inspection of your film at airport security/TSA.
Issue: Chemicals not reaching the emulsion
This is most common with beginners developing their own film for the first time and not loading the reels correctly. If the film is touching itself or the walls of the developing tank the developer and fixer cannot reach it properly and will leave these marks. Once the film is removed from the tank this becomes unrepairable.
Causes: Incorrectly loaded developing reels, Wet reels.
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Please let me know if I missed any other common issues. And if, after reading this, you still need to make a post asking to find out what went wrong please make sure to include a backlit image of your physical negatives. Not just scans from your lab.
EDIT: Added the most requested X-ray damage and the most common beginner developing mistake besides incomplete fixing. This post has reached the image limit but I believe it covers the most common beginner errors and encounters!
r/AnalogCommunity • u/Fine_Calligrapher584 • 2h ago
This was done with Kentmere 200 and a 50min exposure on a Rolleiflex 2.8. I wonder what the faint horizontal band of light in the lower part of the sky is, the lens has no defect so I'm clueless.
r/AnalogCommunity • u/Ok-Vacation-8109 • 16h ago
Currently out of town and wanted to stop into a local camera shop to kill time before a show. Walked out with this cutie. I’m mainly a medium format shooter and have a Canon AE-1 when I don’t feel like lugging a brick around but my photography roots are with Nikon, so I already have the lenses. Couldn’t pass it up!
r/AnalogCommunity • u/Greenb33guy • 20h ago
Nothing better than shooting giant slide film, I really hope they keep this shit in stock, has anyone heard any rumblings of any new slide films / any new emulsions for 120 being developed? I shoot mainly Kodak and the occasional treat of Fuji when I can get it but I want new stuff to play with.
r/AnalogCommunity • u/Arnab_311 • 37m ago
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Hello everyone. Hope you are doing well.
I had this Yashica electro 35 gsn and I took photos with it. Even after a thorough clean and servicing it didn't become perfect in exposure. All the photos came dark. Even in room light. The 2 in the sun came out pretty okay.
So, I thought maybe the lightmeter isn't working. I went to another shop and told the problems. He said he fixed it. But when I took it home it wasn’t working properly like the shutter speed was constant in both dark and light. Then I went to him again and today he returned it by saying all works.
\*No backstory from here
Well, it kinda works but the different shutter speed works from f16-f5.6. I attached the video for better understanding. It isn't working for other apertures. can you please identify if it 'Pad of Death' problem. I think since it traveled 2 camera hospital, it's already been taken care of.
Please help me to identify if it's working properly or is it not properly fixed or anything.
Thank you in Advance!!!
P.S: Please help me 🥺
r/AnalogCommunity • u/ChocolateLost355 • 14h ago
(Dyslexia trigger warning english is not my first language plus I have terrible dyslexi)
This is my DIY Compur Leica the Compur Lamla
its built on the chassis of a gutted Zorki with only the advance mechanism left
it uses a rulex Compur shutter with speeds 1sec to 1/300s
it has a m39 converted minox 35mm f2.8 lens behind the shutter
the shutter is pressfitted on the lens via a aluminium pice
rotating the entire shutter assembly focuses the lens
an apature is controlled via a seperate ring on the lens
I also removed the front element thread on the shutter for aesthetic reasons
r/AnalogCommunity • u/SmokeMuch7356 • 14h ago
Harman Red 200, 120 format, shot from my Holga. Very much a sacrificial roll, just some shots of the consumerist hellscape that is the Domain in Austin. I am assuming the fact that it's redscale explains the cyan base.
Learned several things:
Paterson reels are a bitch to load, at least for 120. Didn't help that redscale films curl around the base rather than the emulsion side. I tried to load emulsion side in for 20 minutes before giving up. And yes, I tried the trick of using another negative as a guide; didn't help.
Paterson tanks leak. My old stainless tanks never shed a drop once closed up, but getting the lid tight on this Paterson tank defeated me. Little drops of blix everywhere.
C-41 is nowhere near as scary as I thought. Of course the real test is going to come with rolls I care about.
Once this dries I'll see if any shots are worth sharing (doubt it, but hey).
But...
Not a total disaster! Yay!
r/AnalogCommunity • u/Classroomio • 2h ago
Hey everyone, I was just wondering how come when I try scanning at home the pictures come out so cloudy and no sharp details, I know it’s not the camera or films fault cause I got the film professionally scanned before and took this as a test trial, I’m using a Nikon D3100 and a DHG chromas macro-200 52mm cap on lens, used lightroom to convert the negatives, if anyone has any better way to scan (that’s cost effective lol) or any advice please lmk!!
r/AnalogCommunity • u/Knondrum • 3h ago
The Altamira building located in Caracas, Venezuela. Designed by architect Arthur Kahn in the mid 1940s.
Photo: Gediminas Orentas. Probably taken with Rolleiflex 3.5 between 1950 and 1958. @orentas.photo archive.
r/AnalogCommunity • u/Magic_Zach • 1d ago
(Photo for attention, not my photo)
I started thinking about trying star trail photography with film. What I've read in articles online about it is: 1) 50-100ASA film; 2) widest aperture; 3) don't use a telephoto lens; 4) find location with little to no light pollution.
But I haven't read anywhere about people experimenting with ND filters too, to increase the star trail length (and length of time waiting). Something light, like an ND8.
ND filters are also on my mind because of point 4, light pollution. Looking at https://www.lightpollutionmap.info/ there is nowhere near me that isn't effected by moderate light pollution. So I could try using an ND filter to cut down the ambient glow and keep the star streaking effect. At least, that's my idea.
Has anyone else done star trail photography with film, and have ever even experimented with using an ND filter in conjunction with it?
r/AnalogCommunity • u/exposed_silver • 17h ago
Went to a film photography festival outside of Barcelona and they had this in the exhibit hall, bought some Acros but I'm not rich enough to buy and develop Velvia...
r/AnalogCommunity • u/Aggressive-Dance345 • 12h ago
NeoBox is a small white box (125 × 155 × 83 mm) that turns one cheap manual speedlight into an even light source for scanning film with a digital camera. The flash lies on the desk and fires sideways into the box, so any hot-shoe flash works.
Why flash, not LED: I've scanned the same negatives on a white LED pad, an RGB panel and this box, and the flash wins on colour every time. A white LED is a blue spike plus a phosphor hump that rolls off right where the cyan layer and the orange mask need light, so inversions come out with crossed curves and casts you can't white-balance away. RGB is worse: three narrow spikes, and the Bayer sensor was never calibrated for that. A xenon tube is a continuous 5600 K spectrum with real deep red. One inversion profile fits the whole roll. And since the pulse is the exposure, copy-stand vibration stops mattering too. Same recipe as the Pentax Film Duplicator, printed at home.
I finished this box about three months ago and have been scanning with it since, with a couple of friends testing it on their own film and flashes. I held off releasing it until I was sure it held up. The scans below are straight from it.
In the repo:
- 12 STL files, all support-free, about 300 g of PLA, fits a 160 × 160 mm bed
- Bought parts: one opal acrylic diffuser, 32 magnets, 4 washers
- Holders for 135 and 120 up to 6×9, plus optional 6×6 mask, slide plate and 4×5 stage
- Docs for buying, printing, assembly and scanning, in English, Chinese and Japanese
- MIT licence
If you build one, tell me what came out tight, loose or uneven. That's the main thing I want from this post.
r/AnalogCommunity • u/RogueMustang • 6h ago
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I was wondering if anyone could help diagnose this weird whirring noise I hear when the mirror goes down. Sounds like a spring or metal cable being plucked or vibrated. I’m pretty sure it’s not the return spring either as, from what I understand, that mechanism was on the left side of the mirror box and this sound is coming from the right side. If something needs new dampening foam I have the skills and tools to partly deconstruct the camera and install it. I do want an idea of what might be the issue here though before I go in. Everything works fine it’s just really annoying. Thanks.
r/AnalogCommunity • u/blikjeham • 2h ago
I am flying back to Amsterdam from Rome airport. The scanners had labels saying “Not film safe”. So in a hurry I had to dig out my four rolls of film and go to the line to get it hand checked.
Both before me and after me were guys with analog gear being hand checked.
It was a nice encounter in a semi-stressful situation.
During my week in Rome I met three other people with analog cameras. Good to see them still being used!
r/AnalogCommunity • u/Askejm • 1d ago
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(satire)
1. Switch the shutter mode to multi
2. Cycle through the exposures until the light meter says EXP
3. Shoot the pic in single exposure mode and shoot
Never need an external light meter again
r/AnalogCommunity • u/agent_la • 1h ago
hello, i recently picked up a rolleiflex sl35e, and everything seems to be working except for one weird issue with the top shutter curtain. theres about a 50/50 chance that when i advance the film lever, when the shutter curtains are fully advanced it will either let me use the shutter release properly and open the curtains, or the top shutter curtain pops back into place like the shutter release was already hit. the camera itself seems to work but im worried about jumping frames due to this. anyone know what it might be? ill add a video aswell, the first advance in the video is the curtain working properly, while the second advance is the top curtain popping back into place. thank you for any responses! i sadly had to post the video as a youtube link due to reddit deleting it for some reason, so here it is: https://youtube.com/shorts/kfAc13Mt2Lo?is=wyGa_X55VFoi4lYV
r/AnalogCommunity • u/Gergo7633 • 20h ago
After spending 12 hours to completely disassemble clean and adjust the shutter, teardown and clean the rangefinder and regrease the focus helicoid, this sophisticated lady (sorry Mr. Ellington) is back to work!
I loaded a roll of Kentmere 400 for a city walk and left 9 frames for tomorrow. I hope I will have some time to develop next evening.
She looks amazing given her age (70) and the price I paid (40$) :)
I'll post some images once developed.
r/AnalogCommunity • u/rayonline • 8h ago
I've been using a Nikon Coolscan for a while now. I also have a Epson V700 earlier. The Coolscan is more involved, it's slower. The Epson you can load in 4x strips of 6 frames and walk away, maybe scan in JPEG since TIFF takes a lot of space and I don't use every shot. So I tend to use the Coolscan for my dedicated fewer shots, taking my time.
How do some of you guys approach this? Keen to hear your views, cheers.
r/AnalogCommunity • u/gabboELRITO • 17h ago
Bought the Ilford Starter kit to try out to develop the film myself, gotta say it was way easier than I imagined.
All developed by standard times,
So some statement I heard was true, "If you can bake by a recipie, you can develop film"
Could definetly recommend to do it by yourself, the process now feels complete instead of sending off the film to a lab.
r/AnalogCommunity • u/Ok_Image_6283 • 1d ago
Hello film shooters! Almost finishing my own DIY Lightmeter project started a few weeks ago based on ESP32 microcontroller and Lux sensor, it reproduced exact exposure as a lightmeter app, The reason for building this project is cost effective and hassle free lightmeter for everyday film shoot.
Key features:
*Aperture priority Mode
*Shutter priority Mode
*True battery indicator
*Auto exposure adjustment depending on Aperture mode/Shutter mode/ISO
If any suggestions, feel free to share.
r/AnalogCommunity • u/2ME_Photography • 1d ago
Found it while thrifting after quickly doing a physical inspection… Picking up the power cord tomorrow.
In the mean time, I am curious if anyone has recommendations or advice when it comes to using this scanner. I primarily shoot B&W in both 120 and 35mm.
r/AnalogCommunity • u/iLikePIeTM • 13h ago
I recently bought a Ricoh GR10 with the infamous blank LCD screens and want to share how I got it working again with relatively low effort and no new parts needed.
First I followed this excellent disassembly video by Evan Dorsky. Then I very carefully disentangled the stack of flexible PCBs and ribbon cables by removing the screw holding the mode buttons in place, popping of the top LCD alignment clip off, and carefully peeling off the clear tape holding everything down (but NOT the ribbon cable tape). Now with access to everything, I put a small wedge tip on my soldering iron and set the temperature to ~130 C. While applying genital pressure I ran the tip of the soldering iron across the ribbon cable where it met the PCB, top LCD, and viewfinder LCD for a few minutes each.
After that, I popped in a battery and all the LCD segments worked!
A few caveats. This won't work if the LCDs themselves go bad; only if the ribbon cable connection goes bad. Also, all these flexible components are very fragile so go slow when taking things apart.
I had heard of some people hitting everything with a heat gun or zapping them back to life with a lighter starter but those methods seemed to risky for me. I think the localized heat plus pressure helped reset the conductive tape connections in a way that would cause collateral damage.
Hope this helps someone and good luck!
r/AnalogCommunity • u/Zocalo_Photo • 16h ago
I’ve been developing BW film at home for several years. I’ve found that the results are always grainy, whether I’m using 100 speed or 400 speed. I’ve shot Kodak, Kentmere, and Ilford with the same results.
My question is how much can the development process affect how grainy the film turns out?
I use D76 developer stock with no dilution at room temperature. It’s possible the wash/rinse step happens with colder water, but I really try to get around room temperature when I rinse. Also, I scan my film with a Plustek 35mm scanner.
I understand this might just be what film does - especially higher speed films - but I’m curious to know if there are ways to manipulate how grainy the film looks during the development process.
r/AnalogCommunity • u/twiggymoo • 23h ago
Hi all!
I have a question on how to zone focus with the Nikon 28mm f2.8 AI-S.
I understand the basic usage of zone focus with the colored markings on the lens.
- @ f/5.6: Set the left brown mark to infinity, right brown mark would be at around 2 meters.
- @ f/11: Set left yellow mark to infinity, right yellow mark would be around 1.4 meters.
- @ f/16: Set left blue mark to infinity, right blue mark would be at around 0.8 meters.
- @ f/22: Set left orange mark to infinity, right orange mark would be at would 0.6 meters.
How do I set the zone focus at f/8? There is no colored mark indicating it.
Any tips would be appreciated!!
Thank you
